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In a step toward improving access to early autism identification, A/Prof Josephine Barbaro has led the Polish launch of ASDetect, a free mobile app designed to help parents and caregivers track their child’s development and identify early signs of autism. The launch was made possible through a collaboration between La Trobe University’s Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) and the Alpha Foundation in Poland.
Barbaro, an internationally recognised researcher from La Trobe University, explains that the ASDetect app provides a result indicating a low or high likelihood of autism, along with a social communication profile that parents can share with healthcare professionals.
“We’ve developed this free app where parents can explore their queries or concerns in the comfort of their own home, so it gives them the information they need to advocate when they go to their doctor and say, this is an evidence-based app, this is the information that I’ve received, this is what it’s suggesting, can you please help me. They feel very empowered,” Barbaro says.
ASDetect is based on decades of research into the early behavioural signs of autism and has already been used by tens of thousands of families globally. The app’s rollout in Poland marks the next step in a growing international expansion aimed at improving access to early developmental information.
“The app has questionnaires at 12 months of age, 18 months of age and 24 months of age,” Barbaro said in an interview with the Alpha Foundation. “If you were to download the app and use the questions at 12 months of age and it says low likelihood of autism, you then have an opportunity to go back at 18 months of age, answer more questions that are more developmentally appropriate at 18 months, and again at 24 months old. Parents can check in regularly with the app so that they’re monitoring their child’s development over time.”
Barbaro emphasised that the goal is not to replace professional assessment but to equip caregivers with knowledge and confidence to start conversations about their child’s development earlier. The app is based on the Social Attention and Communication Surveillance (SACS) tool, which was developed and validated in Australia by A/Prof Barbaro and team. The model achieved high accuracy, identifying more than 83 per cent of infants between 12 and 24 months who go on to receive an autism diagnosis, and those not diagnosed typically presented with other developmental delays requiring support.
As emphasised by Professor Anna Prokopiak, founder of the Alpha Foundation and Professor at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, it was the determination of the Polish team that made ASDetect available in Poland. “My dream, and that of the entire Alpha Foundation, was to create a good tool for the early observation of young children. As soon as we heard about the ASDetect app, we knew we had to do everything we could to make it available to parents in Poland,” says Prof. Prokopiak. She describes the localisation process as a major collaborative effort: “We worked intensively, exchanging comments and translations. The aim was to ensure that the language of the app was not only correct, but above all understandable to every parent.”
“Our dream is for ASDetect to become part of the daily work of specialists – paediatricians, therapists and nursery teachers. Early identification is not about looking for deficits, but about giving children the chance to develop during the most important period of their lives,” says Prof. Prokopiak.
A/Prof Barbaro says she hopes the Polish launch will not only support parents but also help local clinicians strengthen developmental monitoring in early childhood settings. “Our aim is to make early identification accessible and culturally relevant wherever families are,” Barbaro says.
Based at La Trobe University, A/Prof Barbaro continues to lead international collaborations on early autism detection. Since its release in 2016, ASDetect has been downloaded more than 180,000 times and translated into five languages (English, Spanish, Mandarin, Slovak and Polish). A/Prof Barbaro envisions a future where every parent has the tools to observe, understand and support their child’s unique developmental pathway.
Watch a video of A/Prof Josephine Barbaro being interviewed by the team at the Alpha Foundation below:
